


Blindsided Again

by afteriwake



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: NY
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, Flashbacks, Past Relationship(s), Post-Season/Series 05, Pre-Season/Series 02, Putting In A Good Word, Reunions, Songfic, Wary Sheldon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-18 23:37:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12398595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: Hawkes had never expected to see her again.





	Blindsided Again

**Author's Note:**

> An answer to prompt #6 (" _Blinded_ ") from some theme set #4 (titled Romance). There's a sequel which I will post later, but I have no interest in picking this up as the series it was intended to be. Bits in italics (except for the song lyrics at the beginning) are flashbacks.

_Happiness_   
_Coming and going_   
_I watch you look at me_   
_Watch my fever growing_   
_I know just where I am_

_But how many corners do I have to turn?_   
_How many times do I have to learn_   
_All the love I have is in my mind?_   
The Verve, "Lucky Man"

He could have sworn he'd seen her. It had been years, but he wasn't the type to forget anything. Especially people. Especially certain people and this group included ex-girlfriends. _Especially_ the one he thought he'd just seen.

Mia Dickerson was not a woman you were likely to forget.

_She laughed at him. "So tell me, Doctor. Am I going to get better?" The arched up eyebrow was a dead giveaway that she was only playing at being sick, baiting him to call in sick and spend the day with her._

_"I don't know."_

_"Well, you could always get closer and find out."_

_"What if you get me sick?" he asked innocently._

_"Then I just get you sick and you have to spend the day with me," she said as she laughed. "Go call into the morgue, Sheldon, and then come over here."_

_"I suddenly don't feel so good..."_

She had that effect on him, that he'd do just about anything she wanted. Oh, there had been a few things he wouldn't do. Most had been minor things, nothing that caused fights. The only one that _had_ was just...it had been major.

He looked up again, shaking the thought out of his head and saw her staring at him. "Mia."

"Sheldon," she said, not too warmly but not coldly, either. "You look good."

It brought a completely involuntary smile to his face. "So do you." He watched her smile as well, the small grin that had been able to, and apparently still _could_ , make his knees go a little weak. "So...what are you doing here?"

"Applying for a job."

He was taken aback a little. He thought she'd never want to come back to New York; after all, hadn't that been what their last fight had been about? That she'd gotten a job opportunity in Las Vegas, and he wanted to stay in New York? He'd just become the head M.E. and then she dropped that bombshell on him. She hadn't even talked about it with him, and that had hurt more than anything else.

_"Why didn't you tell me?"_

_"Sheldon, I want this job. And I kept trying to think of ways to tell you, but it just never seemed right. And now... If I don't leave by the end of the week, I won't get to keep it."_

_"You could work here. Stay here in New York."_

_"I don't think I can. I need something new."_

_He turned away at that point, and even though she softly said his name she didn't try to touch him, to comfort him, to answer that question he was sure she knew was in his head: where is that going to leave us?_

"Really," he said conversationally.

"Jane Parsons is looking for some help. Someone I knew at the labs in Vegas who thought I might be interested told me since...well, since Vegas didn't work out."

Hawkes nodded, suddenly getting the overwhelming urge to strangle whoever it was that told her. He'd hoped to be able to put that relationship behind him, move on with his life now since he'd spent the last year working hard at forgetting her. It had meant a lot of work at the job, a lot of keeping on a more cheerful demeanor than he actually had, but he had slowly moved on, not only with his personal life but with his professional one.

And now here she was, standing in front of him, telling him she might be working with him.

"Sheldon..."

"Yes?"

She groped for what to say, and he could see it as well as the defeated sigh she gave when she decided not to say whatever it was she had intended to say. "I heard you're a CSI now." He nodded. "A friend of mine in Vegas...he did the same thing."

He didn't want to hear about this friend. But he felt compelled to say _something_. "Is he the same friend who told you about the job?" he asked, trying his best not to sound bitter or irritated or angry or even really curious.

"Yes, actually. I was Greg's replacement when he moved from DNA to working in the field. He used to live here in New York, has a few ties to the labs here. He found out about the job and passed it along." She grinned. "Greg's a pretty nice guy."

Hawkes nodded again, only this time smiling a little. "Greg Sanders is finally out of the labs... He must be excited."

Mia blinked. "You know him?"

"Who do you think told me I should try and become a CSI myself? I haven't talked to him in months, though."

"I didn't know that." She thought for a minute. "Did you tell him about the job here?"

"Yeah, I did." He looked at her, a serious expression on his face. "Months ago; Jane's been looking for help for a while since Leonard stopped working so many cases, but she hadn't found a good candidate. I think she even tried to convince Greg, at one point, that he should take the job. He said he might take it if his becoming a CSI didn't pan out. I guess he figured since it did, he'd tell you about it." He shrugged slightly. "I didn't know if he'd passed his proficiency test. But I assumed since he didn't come here, he must have."

"Did he know about...us?"

Hawkes shook his head. "No. As far as I know, at least. Unless you told him something."

"No, I didn't."

"Then he didn't know." Hawkes looked around. "I need to get back to work, Mia."

"I know. I'm sorry I took up so much of your time, Sheldon. You guys look really busy around here. I guess I'll see you later." She turned and walked towards the elevator, but she'd only made three or four steps before he caught up with her.

"Do you really want this job?"

"Yeah, I really do."

"Who did you interview with?"

"Detective Taylor. And Jane, of course, but I just got done with Detective Taylor."

"I'll put in a good word for you. If you want me to."

"I would like that, Sheldon." She smiled at him, a full-blown smile that he didn't realize how much he'd missed until he saw it again. "Thank you. I...I owe you one for this."

"Why don't we meet up tonight? Maybe catch up a little."

"Okay."

He was shocked for just a second, then pulled out the small notepad and pen he carried with him when he was heading out to a scene and handed it to her. "I don't know how late I'll be. I can call you."

She wrote down the number and then handed it back. "Okay." She held onto the notebook and pen for a second and then handed those to him as well. "I guess I'll let you get back to work, then." She gave him a small wave and quickly walked to the elevators, getting in before they closed completely.

And all he could do was stare.

_"You know I love you, right?"_

_"Yes, Mia. I do." He looked at her as he got dressed, watching her sit up in bed with the sheet wrapped around her._

_"Good. Just wanted to be sure."_

_"I love you too. I still have to go to work, but I just thought I'd tell you before you go back to sleep."_

_She laughed. "Did you think I was trying to get you to call in again? I mean it. I do love you. I don't think anything could ever change that."_

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Interrupted Routines](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12411342) by [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake)




End file.
